Tag: manufactur

Automation, the hitch in Trump and Clinton’s plans to bring back manufacturing?

Automation, the hitch in Trump and Clinton's plans to bring back manufacturing?

American manufacturing jobs are unlikely to be as numerous as in the 1970s because automation has replaced the need for many workers. Here, Rick Ring (left) and Corinne Schmitt-Bries attach a panel at John Deere Dubuque Works in Dubuque, Iowa, last year. (Jessica Reilly/Telegraph Herald via AP) In the 1960s, Lehigh Valley high school graduates had a lot of options.

Manufacturers such as Air Products, Ingersoll Rand and Bethlehem Steel offered well-paying jobs that promised a route to the middle class.

"You would expect to go get a job, get married, have kids, get a pension one day and everyone would […]

India’s IT industry & automation angst

India’s IT industry & automation angst

Aakar Patel Automation is coming upon us more rapidly than most of us imagine… Even if India’s IT companies are able to retain their market share of software work, it is going to be automated, meaning requiring less employees. There has been some worrying news on the side of the economy which has remained confined to the business newspapers. It concerns India’s large information technology and software industry and companies like Infosys, TCS and Wipro. These firms, which were expanding quickly for the last two decades, have all slowed down.

They are now growing at single digits annually and even […]

Alarming speculations

Alarming speculations

The writer is the editor and translator of Why I write: Essays by Saadat Hasan Manto, published by Westland in 2014. His book, India, Low Trust Society, will be published by Random House. He is Executive Director of Amnesty International India. The views expressed here are his own. aakar.patel@tribune.com.pk There has been some worrying news on the side of the economy which has remained confined to the business newspapers. It concerns India’s large information technology and software industry and companies like Infosys, TCS and Wipro. These firms, which were expanding quickly for the last two decades, have all slowed […]

More than a quarter of all Spokane County jobs fall below the Initiative 1433 minimum wage threshhold

More than a quarter of all Spokane County jobs fall below the Initiative 1433 minimum wage threshhold

News More than a quarter of the jobs in Spokane County pay less than $12.23 an hour. Initiative 1433 would change that, impacting fast food joints and coffee stands in particular. We’ve written a lot about the minimum-wage hikes proposed by Initiative 1433 — reaching $13.50 by 2020 — but so far, we haven’t really gotten into just how big that change would be for Spokane County.

In other words, just how many local jobs would have their pay structure altered because of the initiative? And how much would that cost local businesses?

This week, Anneliese Vance-Sherman, the regional economist for […]

Robots Could Push ‘Fight For 15’ Backers Out Of Work

Robots Could Push 'Fight For 15' Backers Out Of Work

(Chelsea Cody) Someday C-3PO and R2-D2 could be taking your fast-food restaurant order and cooking your burger and fries instead of saving the galaxy in "Star Wars."

Before you say, "I have a bad feeling about this," consider the current business and technology trends.

The political push to raise the minimum wage nationwide to $15 an hour has motivated many restaurants and other businesses with low-skilled workers to think about replacing some human staff with automation and robots.At the same time, such technology is improving by leaps and bounds and costs are coming down. IBD’S TAKE: There always are some good […]

Indian Government Warns Its Citizens of Significant Job Losses due to Robotics

Indian Government Warns Its Citizens of Significant Job Losses due to Robotics

The robot chef from the Easy Living scene in Horizons at EPCOT Center New Delhi (Sputnik) — Anant Geete, Indian Minister for Heavy Industries, says, “Though the government feel pushing the industrial sector will lead to creation of more job opportunities but the upcoming robotics technology might lead to significant job losses.”

This statement comes at a time when the Modi government has reeled under huge pressure to create jobs for millions. The government in response started its ambitious “Make in India” program to create jobs, but most of the manufacturing companies are moving towards automation, increasing fears of reduction […]

No, American Manufacturing Isn’t Really Booming

No, American Manufacturing Isn't Really Booming

Fiat Chrysler’s Warren, Michigan stamping plant. Employment in manufacturing peaked in the U.S. in June 1979, at almost 19.6 million jobs. This September, that was down to 12.3 million (these numbers are seasonally adjusted).

That fall in employment tells us a lot about today’s American political and economic life. It helps explain why regions that were heavily reliant on manufacturing have been struggling so much, why older Americans without college degrees are so cranky, why labor unions are so weak. But does it mean that American manufacturing is in decline?

An answer frequently offered by wonky economics journalists is that, no, […]

No, U.S. Manufacturing Isn’t Really Booming

No, U.S. Manufacturing Isn't Really Booming

Employment in manufacturing peaked in the U.S. in June 1979, at almost 19.6 million jobs. This September, that was down to 12.3 million (these numbers are seasonally adjusted).

That fall in employment tells us a lot about today’s American political and economic life. It helps explain why regions that were heavily reliant on manufacturing have been struggling so much, why older Americans without college degrees are so cranky, why labor unions are so weak. But does it mean that American manufacturing is in decline?

An answer frequently offered by wonky economics journalists is that, no, U.S. manufacturing output has actually kept […]

Don’t blame the robots! An interview on manufacturing, automation, and globalization with Susan Houseman.

Don’t blame the robots! An interview on manufacturing, automation, and globalization with Susan Houseman.

(iStock)

Susan Houseman is a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute in Michigan. I’ve followed her work on employment trends, especially in manufacturing, for years, and wanted to share some of her recent findings that struck me as particularly germane at this point in time. Susan Houseman JB: This election has clearly elevated the view that our manufacturing sector, and the families and communities that have historically depended on it, has been hurt by trade. A countervailing view says it’s not trade, it’s automation that’s responsible for large-scale job losses. You’ve recently updated your very important work on this question. […]

Something like half of all jobs will likely be lost to automation in the next 20 years

Something like half of all jobs will likely be lost to automation in the next 20 years

Back to Topics Mr. Demiurge Bigwig Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 61667 So sayeth many a science article, but this one will do.

The Future of Employment

Given the number of libertarian-leaning people that float around this board, I’m curious: from your perspective, what do you think the proper response will be to a world in which an ever increasing number of people will no longer have anything to contribute to the economy that an AI can’t do better and cheaper? Take a guess, Luddite. So sayeth many a science article, but this one will do. The Future of Employment […]